A pedestrian walks through the rain in November 2019 at Kerry Park in Seattle. Credit: KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Heavier rainfall to cost Seattle area billions to avoid sewage spills Apr 07, 2021
More-intense storms are expected to cost the Seattle area billions of dollars in coming decades â and that doesn t include the potential for more flooding or landslides.
The extra billions would be needed to build sewage treatment plants big enough to handle heavier runoff as the climate changes.
King County is already in doo-doo for not doing enough to keep raw sewage from pouring into local waters after big storms.
In December, state and federal agencies fined the county and the City of Seattle for âcombined sewer overflows,â when heavy rainfall overwhelms sewage treatment plants, and the untreated mix of runoff and sewage is shunted into the environment.